WAGES of some of the BBC's highest-paid presenters, including Graham Norton and Jeremy Clarkson, are to be examined in a review.

The BBC Trust said it planned to look at how its costs compare with those of the corporation's commercial rivals.

Radio 2 star and chat show presenter Norton, Top Gear host Clarkson, Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman and Fiona Bruce from the Antiques Roadshow are thought to be among the highest-paid figures at the BBC.

The Trust has now announced it will look into the issue of 'talent' pay - which is thought to amount to around £200 million annually - among its programme of reviews over the coming months.

The last time it scrutinised the issue was in 2009, at a time when there was disquiet about the levels of pay for big names such as Jonathan Ross, who has since left the BBC in the wake of the Andrew Sachs scandal.

The talent bill is now said to have been reduced by 13 per cent.

An independent consultant with expertise in the market will be brought in to look at the BBC's mechanisms for controlling its outlay for stars, which eats up the equivalent of more than 1.3 million licence fees.

The Trust said today the review, beginning later this spring, "will examine the BBC's processes to control costs in recruiting and developing talent, and benchmark against the wider market".

Last year's annual report for the BBC revealed there are 14 stars who are paid more than £500,000 annually, although that was down from 16 for the previous year.